Curtis Lloyd News

For example: Are you interested in recycling? Energy efficiency? Transportation? Educating yourself and others? Taking care of the outdoors? Reducing water use?

Check out these great sources of information that are just a finger click away:
Websites that will help in your Personal Journey to Environmental Stewardship

This is not intended to be a comprehensive list.
Know a good website? Let the UUI Green Sanctuary Task Force know and we will add it to this list.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Indiana Department of Environmental Management

Inspire Pharmaceuticals (Durham) has released AzaSite, a treatment for bacterial conjunctivitis, commonly called “pinkeye.”
The recommended dose for AzaSite is one drop twice-a-day for two days, followed by one drop once-a-day for the next five days, for a total of nine drops per affected eye. The current market leader’s recommended dosing regimen is one drop three times-a-day for seven days per affected eye.
AzaSite is azithromycin ophthalmic solution formulated in DuraSite, a patented ocular drug delivery system developed by InSite Vision Inc.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved AzaSite for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis in April 2007. Inspire licensed the rights to commercialize AzaSite for ocular infections in the United States and Canada from InSite Vision in February 2007.
Inspire estimates the revenues from sales of AzaSite in the United States to between $30 and 40 million in 2008.
“In Phase 3 clinical trials, AzaSite had excellent bacterial eradication rates against the three most common causes of bacterial conjunctivitis with tolerability similar to placebo,” said Dr. Francis S. Mah, co-medical director, Charles T. Campbell Ophthalmic Microbiology Laboratory, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Read the complete news release.

I have consciously avoided this. I don’t know why…I guess the thought of what could be happening to those British troops right now is too upsetting. That and the world warned that the new Iranian President had a history of hostage taking…

And now it looks like they’ve fabricated a reason to draw the United Kingdom into a confrontation…

During out last go with Iran’s hostage taking, Jimmy Carter went the pacifist route. He basically imposed sanctions and attempted a “diplomatic” resolution. We all know how well that turned out.

And now Russia is showing weakness (seemingly the worst thing to do when facing a brutal nation like Iran…)

“…The new sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council over Tehran’s nuclear programme are “reversible

Thank you to SNY for getting into the spirit of the Mustache Madness contest from Newsday.com’s Keyboard Quarterbacks, in which Keith Hernandez routed Don Mattingly in the final.

On Friday night the entire on- and off-air crew donned fake mustaches in honor of the king of all New York sports mustaches during the fourth inning.

Gary Cohen engaged Hernandez in a discussion of mustaches for as long as he could, but Mex eventually started getting a tad annoyed and urged the discussion back in the direction of the baseball game.

There were even more diversions in the booth Saturday night when Ralph Kiner visited and spun his usual array of old baseball stories. I’ll probably have more to say about all that in my Tuesday column, after I figure out what was bothering Tom (Terrific) Seaver during his less-than-cleanly delivered speech honoring Kiner.

Was he nervous? Tired? On medication? Something else? I’d hate to speculate without knowing, but it was weird.

I wonder if most people don’t get it. I don’t believe that all parents with autistic children get it. I know this is an unpopular way to speak these days in autism. I’m supposed to feel compassion about how hard it is and all. I’m supposed to talk about the financial burden on everyone. Autism Speaks drives the agenda for how we think and talk about autism these days so much so that I’m afraid to use the word to describe Adam in public places. I prefer to say he has trouble talking. Because if I say autism, people will look dire, talk about his mutated proteins or that he watches too much tv, and presume things about him. The stats come out and it’s the same old party-line.

I don’t like parties much. Not the ones where I have to conform, where I feel uncomfortable being me. I’m getting too old not to be me. And it’s not really like me not to get in there and want to answer people’s questions about autism. I really do like honest questions. I must admit, however, that there are some days that I just don’t think it’s worth it in certain situations. With Autism Speaks the new “Goliath” and autistic people a small David (but we all know how it turns out), autistics represent such a small community, and it is difficult to be heard with such, as irony goes, NOISE.

But you see, it’s not that I don’t have empathy or compassion. It’s just that I try to direct it wisely. A good place to start searching where to direct “help” in autism is by turning to the disability community-at-large and disability studies departments at universities world-wide. Let’s take a look at my home-town university Ryerson’s website to read the following paragraph on the School of Disability Studies project:

“More traditional approaches to disability focus on ways to rehabilitiate or `fix’ people with disabilities. In Disability Studies, we focus on society’s definition and response to disability.”

The school talks about social models of disability rather than the medical model and this is where we need to go. Autism Speaks and like organizations do not go there. The Autism Acceptance Project does. It did when it sought to “redefine autism” with “The Joy of Autism: Redefining Ability and Quality of Life” event last October. Autistic people are always going there. But not many people are listening because they are being drowned out.

Many parents (we have five hundred members now at TAAProject in less than a year), seem to believe this is important.

Why? It is so because many people (we know many of them) will try and make the rights of autistic people seem ridiculous because, as they will too often tell you in fact sheets and press releases, that living with autism is really horrible. They will make the “acceptance movement” or “autism rights movement” seem like it is non existent and made up by a faction of non autistic parents or, as we hear much too often, by autistics who are not really autistic because they can think and type on a computer. They sound convincing. They talk about going bankrupt because they have to do a therapy to make their kids not autistic anymore for to not do that therapy will send them all into the autistic “abyss.”

Autistics will argue they are going bankrupt because they have chosen to try and turn their kids into something they are not instead of fighting for inclusion and an empathetic society where our kids receive a good education, no matter what the disability. Our parent advocates here in Canada will frighten others that to not pay for this therapy — autistic kids will have to live in institutions, they say — instead of working towards a society that has just and decent living arrangements for those who will need extra assistance, and focussing on what individuals can contribute. We need to fight for a quality of life in many different types of living situations, that people with disabilities have a right to beyond daily care.

Our parent autism advocates ignore a vast array of academia, advocacy by the people who are disabled, and history. David Revielle writes in Abilities Magazine that disabled individuals have been part of changing the way we view “madness.” He was part of the group that developed the documentary film Working Like Crazy in 1999. (See this link here for National Film Board link.) He teaches a course at Ryerson called “A History of Madness” with Jim Ward. He says in his article: “Jim and I are walking a trail blazed by Geoffrey Reaume. Following the publication of his book, Remeberance of Patients Past: Patient Life at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane 1870-1940, Dr. Reaume taught “Mad People’s History.”

Reville talks about the courses’ increased popularity and how the agenda has evolved to changing the subject of disabiltiy — to the social response. They bring in psychiatric survivors creating community by addresing their needs for employment and a decent income.

We have these resources in autism, but few people are listening. Autistics.org has posted many important articles. Michelle Dawson writes in her blog Autism Crisis and No Autistics Allowed. Joel writes in his blog, NT’s Are Weird. And of course, Amanda Baggs, who is consistently accused of not being autistic. And there are many more autistic individuals who belong to self-advocacy organizations. The list is longer than I am providing here of autistic people who write books, blogs, do artwork or participate in these groups in some fashion. I do not hear of one autism society anywhere who acknowledges any of them.

It strikes me everytime that people write their bias on the page with pride. From hating something to pretending to advocate on behalf of others because “they can’t speak for themsevles,” prejudice against the disabled is intolerably tolerated.

I would recommend that any doubtful person turn to the many disability studies departments at their universities — the hub where change really happens. Or, you can attend the talk Doing Disability At Work: A Symposium on July 5, 2007 which discusses how disabled people fare as learners in mainstream workplaces. Contact Ryerson for more information.My son has autism.

I have had an itch to sew some summer clothes like all get-out. I boldly (in denial about the reality of my post-baby size) cut out 2 pairs of linen pants about 1 month ago, all ready to wear after miss Lydia came, and yeah. . . they didn’t fit. And then. . . . still didn’t fit. Now they fit. That linen stretches a lot, thank god. So, a pair of cropped dark brown and loden green linen pants are now done just in time for the hot days and for my need to get dressed in 2.5 seconds. I made a larger pair last week because I just couldn’t deal with not having any–so now I have 3 pairs and they are all I’m gonna wear all summer. I refuse to buy sized clothes post-baby. At least I need to wait until fall. Also, can you believe what they are charging for linen elastic waist pants? I can’t. Home sewn, I think these cost about $12 each. Way better, I’d say.

In between running out of elastic, I made this blouse over the weekend. There’s a back story here. It’s a short one. This fabric is by Nani Iro and I have been bugging Mariko about buying it from superbuzzy for about 2 months. Maybe more. I was trying to play it cool and not ask about it again, but then I did. I finally went over there and got it the day it went on sale last week after I had my spy tell me more about it. It’s super soft, lightweight (double cotton gauze) and airy. Just lovely. I can’t express how much it means to me to have this fabric. The repeat is huge and the design looks like watercolor. It’s hard to photograph, but trust me. You can see it on me in this horrible out-of-focus photo here, with a crying baby. I can sew all weekend, but can’t take a photo that requires 2 adults-that’s how it goes.

Some details:
-here’s the blouse pattern I used. I added elastic to the sleeves on this one.
-the width on this Nani Iro fabric, after washing, is just over 36″, so buy extra.
-it’s not cheap, think of this as an anthropologie type fabric, this blouse took 2 yards, which made it about $38 to sew. . . which is still amazing in my book when I look at this fabric.

And speaking of sewing clothes, I have an interview up with Sister Diane over at CraftyPod all about sewing clothes. It’s about 30 minutes long and Diane’s silky smooth voice and great music always makes me smile. Thanks Diane!

Welcome, Welcome

Hey Cats and Kittens! Once again, Lost has managed another FANTASTIC season finale. Sometimes I get discouraged that I will never get any answers. However, those brilliant writers manage to rope me in every time. The best time for pulling back wayward viewers happens to be the season finale - my favorite time because its all engines go. Most finales seem to be overly fantastic because the viewers will know its worth tuning in next season. Good thing for us Lost fans, our show surpasses most season finales in a “keep me wanting more

Check here for Atlantic Div. Needs
Check here for Central Div. Needs

Sort of tricky to read where the Southeast Division is headed next year, with 2 teams having some significant money to play with in free agency, another team with multiple lotto picks, and one aging team that has most of its money tied up in 3 players & has only 7 players under contract. Even with multiple question marks with their roster, if Miami can stay healthy, they can challenge for another division title. The Magic look like they are headed in a positive direction and if they can find some sort of scorer on the wing, they could secure another trip to the playoffs. Wizards can also make another playoff run, but if they want to seriously challenge for an East title, they have to change their defensive mentality. Hawks have to use their lottery picks wisely, and hopefully fill their voids at PG & in the frontcourt. No one has close to the cap space as the Bobcats, so they hold a ton of leverage this summer to either be the top suitor toward free agents or as a trade partner for teams looking to unload big contracts.

*–You will notice the two parentheses next to the team name. The first one will either have “MLE” or a dollar amount in it. This just states if the team has the Mid-Level Exception (which is roughly $5 mil this year) that is awarded to every team that is over the salary cap. If a dollar amount is shown that means the team is under the salary cap. There are only a handful of teams under the salary cap (which has yet to be finalized, but should be around $53-55 million). The dollar amount is a rough estimation at this point, and can change to a degree for a myriad of technical things like cap holds, renounced rights, player options and the yet undetermined exact amount of this year’s salary cap. The second parentheses just states the draft picks that each team presently owns.

ATLANTA–(MLE) (#3, #11): PG; Post player; Shooter
Draft Targets: Horford; Conley; Law
The ping-pong balls shook out in their favor and the draft looks to be pretty cut & dry from the Hawks’ persceptive. The #3 pick should be narrowed to 2: Al Horford or Mike Conley. If they take Horford at #3, they can still take a viable PG at #11, with Acie Law more than likely still around. If they take Conley at #3, they would want to get a big at #11, but guys like Noah or Hawes might not be around. In free agency, Atl should probably hone in on a defensive-minded center to pair with newly acquired defensive stalwart Horford. But there are slim pickings out there: maybe Magloire or Mikki Moore can be pursued. The Hawks were also dead last in 3pt. shooting, so guys like Kapono or Mo Pete could be on their radar.

CHARLOTTE–($25mil) (#8, #22): Scoring; Wing; Back-up PG
Draft Targets: Brewer; J. Green; J. Wright; N. Young
No team has more leverage in free agency or as a trading partner where teams looking to dump contracts & not take back equal money. The first step is probably to deal with their wing positions. G. Wallace can become an unrestricted FA, and it seems like Morrison might not be as potent of a scorer as first thought. But I still think you can’t write off Adam this early, so maybe the Bobcats should focus on a defensive-minded wing, especially if Wallace leaves, and the perfect fit would be Brewer (if still there). Though that would not really answer the call for more offense, so guys like J. Green & N. Young should be under heavy consideration. Charlotte might need a back-up PG if Brevin Knight is not retained–a PG who has some size & can shoot would be ideal to offset Felton. When it comes to free agency it will be very interesting to see if the Bobcats go hard after Lewis or Vince, or if they sit on some of their money to make a splash next summer when the free agent crop looks great.

MIAMI–(MLE) (#20): PG; Back-up 4/5; Wing
Draft Targets: Pruitt; T. Green; Crittenton; Koponen
This team has some holes to fill, but is somewhat hamstrung by having most of their money tied up in Shaq & Wade, not to mention Ant Walker. Would say that Miami’s primary concern has to be at the PG spot with JWilliams heading into his walk year, and Payton probably retiring. If they look to fill that void in the draft, at #20 Gabe Pruitt could be still around & he would be the best bet there. Other PGs like Crittenton, T. Green, & P. Koponen are other possibilities. The SF position is also a little sketchy right now with Posey, Kapono, & Ed Jones all unrestricted FAs. Also, could use an infusion of youth on their frontline, someone to groom behind Shaq would be a good idea. Plus, you can expect Shaq to miss 20-25 games because of legit injuries or just self-imposed rest.

ORLANDO–($8mil??) (#39, #44, #54): Scoring Wing; Post player
Draft Targets: A. Gray; Fazekas; G. Davis
This squad is in desperate need of scoring, period. At this point they really don’t have anyone capable of averaging 20 ppg. Dwight is close to being there (and probably could if he just hit his free throws), but he’s still a year or two off from being a potent scorer - still needs to polish his post game. So they need to focus on someone who’s a multi-dimensional threat on the perimeter who can slash to the bucket; Redick & Hedo ain’t ever gonna be living in the lane off their penetration. Even if they re-sign Darko, they could still use some more depth on the frontline. Guys like Aaron Gray. Nick Fazekas, or Glen Davis could do the trick in the 2nd round & could be available at #39 or #44. What’s a little tricky to gauge about Orlando’s situation right now, is exactly how much money they will have to use in free agency this summer. A lot of it hinges on what they plan to do with Darko, who is a restricted F.A. If they sign Darko to just a one-year tender or sign him to multiple years, then they will have about $6-8 mil to spend, which won’t be enough for Lewis or Vince. If they choose not to match an offer sheet for Darko, then they could have the ability to go after top-notch free agent wings like Vince or Rashard. If the Magic aren’t left with enough dough to go after Carter or Lewis, they will have to calibrate their sights to free agents like Bonzi, Nocioni, or G. Wallace.

WASHINGTON–(MLE) (#16, #47): Center; Rebounding; True PG
Draft Targets: Splitter; J. Smith; Crittenton; Pruitt
The Wiz need to find some sort of answer in the middle. Brendan Haywood is way too inconsistent to count on as a starter & they could possibly lose promising 7-foot Andray Blatche in free agency. It would be nice if this team could find some sort of defensive-minded role player at any position, especially if Deshawn Stevenson leaves. At #16, the Wiz should go with the best big available. A guy who can play the 4/5 would be a bonus since Jamison is in the last year of his deal. Think Splitter would be an ideal fit because he can play the 4/5 and is known for his defense & rebounding–two things the Wiz desparately need. Others to consider are McRoberts, Jason Smith, & S. Williams. They also could consider going with a PG, specifically one with some size so they can move Arenas to the 2-guard more (the roster is devoid of a pure point). You could have 2 big PGs at #16 that could fit the bill in Crittenton & G. Pruitt. Need to get Euroleague stud, Juan Navarro, over to DC as quickly as possible, but he has a big buyout.

The last part of Reader, I Married Him was broadcast on Monday evening, and focused on heroines.

After my disappointment with the selection of heroes in episode 2 I am delighted to report that Daisy Goodwin and co did a very much better job with heroines, looking at them from the 18th Century Gothic novels through to Bridget Jones.

Goodwin dismissed the heroines of Gothic novels (such as The Castle of Otranto, from which she quoted) as rather feeble. While I have a certain soft spot for the more, well, gothic of the Gothic novels (Matthew Lewis’s (left) The Monk, for instance), I cannot dispute any suggestion that the heroines are not their strongest point.

Jane Austen must have had the same views, as she satirised gothic in Northanger Abbey, and came up with much stronger heroines in her later books. Goodwin, predictably, picked out Elizabeth Bennet for particular scrutiny, illustrated by Jennifer Ehle. Personally I think that Emma Woodhouse might have been an even better case study, but the best recent adaptation was not made by the BBC.

From Austen we moved on to the Brontës, or rather Jane Eyre, with plenty of time to dwell on Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson. Charlotte Brontë created Jane Eyre in part at least as a response to Austen’s heroines and Goodwin brought out the contrast well, even if we did spend too long on the nature of governesses (but with nobody suggesting that they were “half of them detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi”).”My dearest, don’t mention governesses; the word makes me nervous. I have suffered a martyrdom from their incompetency and caprice. I thank Heaven I have now done with them!”

Then it started to get interesting, for we moved into the 20th Century and alighted upon Madame Zalenska from Elinor Glyn’s Three Weeks. Goodwin took the book to a reading group in Yorkshire, and concluded from their responses that time has not been kind to Elinor Glyn, and, judging by the clips from a 1977 production, neither were Thames Television, with Elizabeth Shepherd vamping for all she was worth over a rather bored looking tiger skin, and a young Simon McCorkindale as Paul Verdayne not really knowing where to look.

It was no surprise that our next heroine saw Goodwin back in her crinoline and walking the streets of Atlanta in search of Scarlett O’Hara. I am probably alone in thinking that the world might be a better place if Margaret Mitchell had stuck to her original idea of naming her heroine “Pansy” and Melanie Hamilton “Permalia”.

Unfortunately the urge to illustrate the whole discussion with old films and television dramatisations took a turn for the worse when Goodwin moved on to Georgette Heyer. Jenny Haddon, chair of the RNA, said some wonderful things about Heyer, as did Elizabeth Buchan and assorted others, but this was somewhat undercut by a short clip from the abominable film of The Reluctant Widow, and a brief extract from Venetia where she and Damerel discuss his orgies, accompanied by shots of neon signs from sex shops.

But at least Heyer was given plenty of space. The heroines of early feminist fiction (I am thinking of Isadora Wing, for instance) were skipped completely and we landed in the 1980s with Barbara Taylor Bradford’s Emma Harte. The Yorkshire reading group found that she, too, had not aged well. Many had read it 25 years ago when it had seemed to capture some sort of Zeitgeist, but, like Kenneth More and Nyree Dawn Porter in The Forsyte Saga, it is one of those things that is best left to the fond embrace of memory. Bradford herself was good value in interview, however.

From Emma Harte’s 1980s the final stop was Bridget Jones’ 1990s, and the rise of Chick Lit.

Along the way Goodwin asked some interesting questions about what a romantic heroine is looking for. In the 19th Century it was inevitably marriage - but not necessarily marriage on any terms. In the 21st Century it is a great deal more complicated than that. Goodwin’s final session, with a group of schoolgirls, did not really come up with any suggestions about where the romantic heroine goes next, but it is something worth thinking about.

This Spring, our lab group will pilot the use of a popular video game as an environment for experiential learning in a university general education curriculum. There is a long history of the use of simulation in the social sciences. Classes about gaming have long employed video games, and undergraduates may be exposed to simulations in required courses in statistics (e.g., Monte Carlo) or in methods courses (e.g., Sugarscape). Distance education courses may involve collaboration using remote presence or virtual reality (e.g., Second Life). However, instead of these approaches, we will try to view a simulation in the way that we would critically view a text or a reading.

Students will not be asked to use a simulation in order to learn the laws that drive it. Instead, students will have to experientially discover the rules driving the simulation and critique them. This is a useful skill in that it provides an introduction to the understanding and critique of software “black-boxes” that students increasingly encounter in all aspects of life, while also providing a gentle introduction to the use of simulation methods in social science — an important general education goal. (Using popular software instead of custom-designed educational software also promises benefits for student engagement.)

The class Communication Technology & Society* will play and critique a modified version of Civilization IV in order to formulate and test principles about how human societies develop and employ communication technology, and its relation to human culture. This experiment in using new technologies in university learning has been made possible by a partnership with the Gaming Collection of the University Library.

* - this course is under consideration by the general education board.